Katy Perry Pines Over Lost Love in ‘The One That Got Away’ Video

Lost love can ruin a person’s life and age them prematurely. It can change them forever. In Katy Perry‘s case, with the video for her latest single ‘The One That Got Away,’ the 27-year-old singer transmogrifies into a senior citizen, courtesy of prosthetics and a really good makeup artist. Old Katy, with her deep-set wrinkles, weathered-skin and white-washed hair, is a sad, sad woman, one who pines over the love she lost in her youth.

The video switches back and forth between the then and the now, and the moods are markedly different. Young, black-haired, jubilant Katy is an artist and has a young, scruffy-haired, bearded boyfriend who she can’t stop smiling around or keep her hands off of. The two are truly, madly and deeply in love, enjoying the kind of reckless, consuming passion that leaves a mark. They give each other tattoos on their wrists, but that’s not the type of mark we meant. These two left scars on each other’s hearts.

Young Katy in her peach frock and aviator shades is happy and when she is juxtaposed against old Katy, with her grandma sweater, frown lines and pensive facial expressions, the mood drops like your stomach on a roller coaster.

Young Katy and Old Katy meet briefly, singing while sitting next to each other, making little eye contact. We also see young, distraught Katy, sobbing in a walk-in closet, with her black mascara streaming down her face, a la Avril in ‘Wish You Were Here.’ Both pop divas emote convincingly and tug at your heart strings.

Here’s the spoiler: Katy’s lover died in a car wreck after a fight. She was never the same afterwards. She visits the scene of the accident and his visage appears, as they touch hands and show their matching tattoos.